The energy mix revolution in Japan

Tokyo, July 31, 2014: Former Japanese prime ministers Junichiro Koizumi (2L) and Morihiro Hosokawa (R), who are campaigning against nuclear power, inspect an electricity generator at a clean energy technology exhibit (source: dpa)

Japan is moving full throttle toward renewable energy. Five years ago, before the Fukushima Daiichi accident in March 2011, such a development would have been inconceivable because the country’s so called “nuclear village” held tight control over the energy sector. The powerful pro-nuclear lobby comprised of elite bureaucrats, utility executives, academics and journalists pushed for continued “nuclearization” of Japan within the then existing monopolistic structure of the utility sector. That system worked until disaster struck.

During the critical days in March 2011 it became manifestly clear that such a system was neither capable of dealing with the crisis effectively nor of improv...

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